DOES TRAUMA-LINKED DISSOCIATION VARY ACROSS ETHNIC-GROUPS

This investigation assessed the relationship between traumatic stress exposure and dissociation in male Vietnam theater veterans from three ethnic groups. Subjects were African-American (N = 61), Caucasian (N = 91), and Hispanic (N = 73) veterans who completed the Dissociative Ex periences Scale and a measure of war zone stress exposure, and who wer e rated on the Peritraumatic Dissociative. Experiences Questionnaire-R ater Version. Greater exposure to war zone stress was associated with reports of more dissociation at the time of trauma and with more gener al dissociative experiences both when the data were pooled and when ex amined separately for each group. After controlling for the effects of war zone stress exposure, the significant differences found in peritr aumatic and general dissociative experiences across the three ethnic g roups no longer were evident. This investigation demonstrated that amo ng American Vietnam veterans, greater exposure to traumatic stress is related to more dissociative experiences, regardless of ethnicity.